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CHIPS AHOY! mark on packaging with Nabisco.

Kraft just announced that it is going to rebrand its global snacks company Mondelez. According to their press release, we’re supposed to say “ mohn-dah-LEEZ”. Easy to remember; just think Bush Administration Secretary of State. You know, Mon-de-leza Rice.

There are a couple things that Kraft could do to spiff this up. One is to hyphenate it: Mon-delize. But you don’t see the hyphen, and without that trick, it is hard to understand, sort of like hyperlipidemia. Or perhaps they could spell it differently, to give it more of flair, like Mon-deleez. But a word which needs to be explained and which can’t be spoken without a pronunciation guide is not likely a word which the public is going to understand, let alone embrace.

It is not clear as of today whether Kraft has taken steps to protect this. One thing which happens with the worldwide web and round-the-clock news cycle is that often, the minute a new mark or name hits the public, some entrepreneur is off to the races, trying to lock up the term in the Trademark Office and with the local domain name registrar.

Blue Ivy with her mother Beyoncé.

Remember the name BLUE IVY? Before the ink was dry on her birth certificate, someone had filed to register Beyoncé’s baby name. No evidence of an “intent to use” trademark application is found for MONDELEZ in the official Trademark Office database; sometimes there is a delay, so presumably Kraft filed simultaneously with their announcement. Domain name registration is no clearer. Kraft does not own MONDELEZ.COM – someone else does. But perhaps they have acquired rights or the owner is actually a related company or a proxy for Kraft. What this emphasizes, regardless of the actual facts, is that you have to coordinate naming efforts on many fronts. Once the name goes public, you have to assume that profiteers of all sorts want to share the benefits of your labors.